IAN CARR WITH NUCLEUS: SOLAR PLEXUS

With 'Elastic Rock' (1970) and 'We'll Talk About It Later' (1971) the jazz-rock / fusion group Nucleus set the highest standard for seventies instrumental jazz rock. This outfit led by Ian Carr was heavily influenced by Miles Davis' transition from bebop to fusion as pioneered on the album 'In a Silent Way'. The band has some funk and rock influences as well. 'Solar Plexus' was also released in 1971, but it wasn't initially planned to be a Nucleus record - all tracks are written by Carr here. The production sound is still quite good, but don't expect that glorious sound of the before mentioned albums. The compositions are less melodic and usually flow around a rather simple chord pattern. The musicianship is of the highest order with beautiful Fender Rhodes sounds, clean stratocaster guitar, tight funky jazz drums, thumping bass and a great assortment of wind-instruments. On side one 'Bedrock Deadlock' shows Ian Carr experimenting with avant-garde to little success in my humble opinion. Side two is perhaps a more pleasant listen with groovy jazz-rock that makes up for great sophisticated background music. Compared to the other records of this band in this era 'Solar Plexus' is less interesting for the progressive rock crowd and therefor I can only give it three stars. Do check out the other records by this band though!